Meet the Clan
by Gandalf the Beige
Summary: For a humanoid species in a sea of humans, good PR is everything, being comparable to the love of the gods. But that begs the question: Is the hate of men stronger?
1. Wierd magic

**Meet The Clan**

Summary: The world needs more gargoyles but the breeding rate is pretty slow, so where do we get them? Bring the Wyvern clan back of course.

Authors note: Much praise to Hardwing, who first brought the clan back using the old 'using the time-stream as a cryogenic chamber' method (and beat me to the punch). My method is not to use an unseen past, but to write an unscripted future… and kill a Mary Sue in the process.

And in this version of events Hudson was hatched in 898, NOT 878, because it fits the plot better (they got old fast back then, coupled with PTSD from the loss of his mate).

Dedicated: to "Mans blind indifference to his fellow man and a whole generation who were butchered and damned."… Maybe Demona had a point… NAH! Actually dedicated to all the brilliant authors who write stories of such wit and depth that they are truly inspirations to us all.

Disclaimer: Let it be known that I own nothing in this story; these are canonical gargoyles, humans and educated extrapolations, but I did make up some people; try to guess whom. Disney and Buena Vista are the rightful recipients so send all tithes to them. Tolkien owns Gandalf, the elves and the rest of canonical Middle Earth, perhaps some reference to Harry potter and/or Discworld in here too… maybe (hell, its probably a sure thing).

* * *

**The Labyrinth, 400 feet under Lower Manhattan, 2 AM October 28th**

In one of the lesser-used tunnels a shower of golden sparks willed itself into existence, solidifying into the form of a remarkably beautiful young woman. She had strangely coloured eyes, lustrous hair, and the unmistakable shiver of magic about her. She had come to restore the clan of Castle Wyvern to its full glory… as well as get her ego inflated in the process, maybe snag a gargoyle husband and generally be worshiped like a god.

Unfortunately, she was a Mary-Sue… therefore she had to die.

A sword glowing pink was thrust through the top of her chest, coming out just below her collarbone, killing her instantly. Instead of blood, however, it was those damnable sparks that bled out. As she dissolved and dissipated, the one who had killed this abomination, a wizard by the name of Gandalf (or Mithrandir or Olorin depending on your source), watched his sword fade from pink to lustrous silver with a certain amount of disgust. These creatures were detected by mithril glowing pink instead of blue and he constantly worried about permanent discolouration.

As he was about to head up to the surface, he looked down at the one thing of the Sue that had stayed on this plane… her "magical thingy of mary-sueness": a deus ex machina object of infinite and otherworldly power (1), extremely powerful but also extremely unstable, constantly changing shape at its mistresses whim, lack of short term memory and questionable spelling. And it was as that moment that an almost treacherous thought popped into Gandalfs' head, seemingly out of nowhere: 'Why not do it again?'

The gargoyle population was sorely in need of more blood, even if it DID come from a clan dead more than a thousand years, and an entire community would be kinder to mortal eyes than a batch of random males. The Timeless Halls would surely forgive him returning souls to Arda whose help was needed (he hoped). He picked up the thing in its current incarnation, a sapphire set in a silver broach of Viking design and pocketed it before he returned to the sea of chaos that was currently New York City.

* * *

**Castle Wyvern, 4 AM, Oct. 28th**

The cool winds of a late autumn morning blew over the battlements of ancient Scottish granite on a castle on the tallest building in the world as 6 gargoyles and 1 watchbeast attempted to wait out the storm brewing below them. There was a soft _ding _as the express elevator arrived in the castle, where out walked Elisa Maza detective for the NYPD (and stationed at the 25th Precinct while the 23rd was still wrapped in police tape after the missile attack) holding a scarf and her formal dress cap under her left arm, into the half-lit Great Hall.

"Good morning, Detective Maza"

Elisa whirled around, and as highly strung as she was, the speaker would have normally found himself with a broken arm, a bent spine and his tongue stuffed up one of his nostrils. Fortunately, this was Owen Burnett, a man who knew the detectives temper well enough that he unconsciously put himself one-and-a-half paces out of Maza's reach… almost magically. His right hand was also a fist of stone.

He remained his stoic self as she calmed to speaking level. "Mr. Xanatos is currently asleep due to today's pressures, as are Fox and Alexander, although he wished me to inform you that you have been granted Carte Blanche access to the castle. Goliath is on the south tower; Hudson is in the media room monitoring the Major news networks, Bronx is with him I believe. And as for the Trio and Angela, the former were discussing what to dump on the anti-gargoyle protesters at the front entrance, while the latter was trying to dissuade them."

"Thank you… Owen." Elisa said cautiously, remembering how Puck would not enjoy being reminded of his geas, at this early hour especially.

"No thanks required, but if you reach the Trio before they do anything brash, could you ask them to not do it? This company's stock price is already suffering, and we do not need a shower of grape Jell-O added to the mix." The Major-domo, for the first time in their acquaintance, actually seemed a bit gloomy… or maybe it was just sleep deprivation.

"Now, if you can excuse me Detective, this body needs a few hours of sleep and I intend to get it before the household awakens. Good morning." With that, Owen padded across the empty hall, and Elisa took the time to actually notice his attire: flannel dressing gown and of all things bunny slippers; these slippers though were not the classic pastels, but the actual ash and brown of a real eastern cottontail.

Our fair detective first went to the so called "media room", which was just Hudson's television room with a digital set and some new recording equipment. As she opened the door, Bronx, the castle watchbeast, raised his head and barked happily, even getting up and going over to her. "Good mornin' lass!" called the old warrior over his shoulder as he flipped through such dedicated such dedicated news sources as CNN, NBC, and the BBC… oh, and FOX News as well (2).

"Hey Hudson." Said Elisa as she rubbed Bronx behind the ears.

"Goliaths been waitin' for ye, ye know." Replied Hudson in a surprisingly serious tone.

"I know." Sighed Elisa as she stood up "It wasn't easy getting here, you know. The city's just about ready to explode, and with the crowd in front I had to take a black and white around to the East Garage Entrance since there aren't a lot of classic Fords with police plates in this city and then with all the paperwork to replace and the moving…" Elisa ran her hands over her face in a very tired manner. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Sounds more to me like yuir tryin' to distract yourself from somethin'… pertaining to Goliath perhaps?" Elisa looked a bit shocked at the fact that he knew even that much. But Hudson only developed a small wry smile. "You better be goin' if you want to meet with him, and by the way, if you catch the lads with a wash basin filled with 'grape Jell-O', could you stop them before they do anything daft?" Elisa had already raced off to stop the deluge before he had even finished, so the elder just shrugged and continued flipping.

**Outside, battlements atop the Outer Gate**.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea, Brook?" Lexington asked as one hand supported the bottom of the tub and the other levelled the edge.

"Yeah Brook, and I _did_ make this Jell-o for Angela." Broadway looked down at the tub. "Although I may have gone a bit overboard."

"Hey, if those maniacs down there get through those doors, us, Xanatos, the whole building is toast. Just think of it as doing our part in the castles' defence. And remember: 'a gargoyle can nae more stop protecting the castle more then…'"

"He can stop breathing the air." The voice came from behind him, and was revealed to be Elisa, walking towards them with Angela in tow. The two females gazed downward and clucked their tongues disapprovingly. Elisa sighed in frustration. "You guys really going to waste all that on those jokers down there, where they could take it as an excuse to sue Xanatos and land the whole company in court, causing stock to plummet, forcing him to declare bankruptcy and have you back living out of belfries?" The young males looked down at the tub of grape jelly, then to Elisa, then to Angela, back to Elisa and finally back to the purple mass.

"No… I guess not." Said Brooklyn abashedly was he suddenly dropped his corner and hung his head. The other two males were jerked back into reality at the sudden shift in weight and were also forced to drop their load.

"So what do we do with it now?" pondered Lexington as he rubbed his bald head.

"Well…" began Broadway as he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a mess kit. "I only brought 2 spoons, but I can get some more if you guys want to join in."

Brooklyn rubbed the bottom of his beak in thought. "Oh, I think we can manage without." He winked at Lex, who seemed to both understand and agree. So, just as Broadway was handing Angela a spoon, the other two males simultaneously dove face first into the Jell-O and began slurping like fiends.

Elisa grinned at this, and then looked up to the apex of the tower on the inner gate, where she spied Goliath who had been grinning also, but he turned his head and settled into a soft grimace as he noticed _her_ noticing. That only launched her into a full-blown smile… she'd surely need it for the upcoming talk. She climbed the spiral staircase, thinking how she would handle the fact that she had strong romantic feelings for a guy with wings.

She, after what felt like an eternity, finally reached the windy top of Wyverns tallest tower. Goliath was once more staring out over the city, stony face frozen in thought, but turned as he heard her footsteps "Elisa?" He asked as she walked towards him.

"Hey big guy." She said as she, without any hesitation whatsoever, hugged him about the lower thorax. It was with much more tact that Goliath embraced her shoulders with both arms and wings.

For several minutes they stayed like this, simply sharing body heat, until Goliath ventured to breach 'the subject'. "Elisa… about what happened at sunrise…"

"Goliath." Elisa raised her head to meet his gaze. "Don't. _I_ don't regret it and I was dead serious: I just don't do things on the spur of the moment. I _love _you, and nothing can change that."

"What about Jason?" asked Goliath, breaking the mood rather admirably. Elisa pondered for a minute over all the instances he could be referring to, until she came to the most embarrassing, most potentially treacherous, the most mind glaringly _stupid_ incident concerning the now crippled Canmore.

Oh… crap.

"The kiss?" Asked Elisa, sighing that this was going to take a lot of mental wrangling to make even rudimentary sense of.

"Yes." Admitted Goliath, carefully unpeeling her arms from around his chest. As Elisa just began to muster, Goliath broke in. "Elisa, it is natural that, not knowing who Jason was, you would be attracted to him. He, as much as I can understand, is a prime specimen of the human male: attractive to females, intelligent, extremely literary and apparently shared your devotion to duty." He paused, appearing to think hard on something.

"And… the fact that Jason _is_ a human is also relevant. Elisa, you _deserve _someone you can spend the entire day with, someone who you can display in public without being branded as something obscene. Someone… who can provide you with children." That last part was particularly difficult for both parties to stomach. Goliath looked particularly sullen, having just listed off the reasons why he would be a poor choice to be her romantic partner. Yes folks, Goliath: leader of Clan Wyvern, world traveler and victim of circumstance on numerous occasions… was developing an _inferiority complex _of all things.

Those same points, however, had given Elisa ideas for a retort to each. "Goliath?" Asked Elisa softly. He nodded, still feeling the unnecessary burden of his ladylove going for a human. "All those points _do _fit with what I thought of Jason… but they also fit _you _pretty well."

Goliath looked back and just managed to look surprised, even a little relieved that his own, carefully crafted arguments were being turned back on him by his beloved. "And about him being human… let me tell you something: I've dated 6 guys in my life: 3 are married, 2 are in prison upstate and the last one is a mafia boss in Rikers… yeah, I dated Dracon for a couple of weeks. The common thing in all of them is that, before I knew any of them more than a year, they turned into unmitigated disasters. _You_, on the other hand, are probably the best guy I've ever known. I'd rather spend the night with you than the whole 24 hours with someone I couldn't stand."

She took a breath, needing it after that long of a point. "And about the going out in public… you should know that the kind of bull that my parents went through after they got married would… how do you word it? Oh yes, it would 'Make Santa Claus himself vomit in rage'. Some neo-nazi idiots vandalized the hall outside our first apartment back in '73, when I was 4 years old. Being an inter-racial couple back then was tough, especially when neither of them was white." Even though it wasn't the most pleasant memory in her mental repertoire, she felt it was very appropriate to her argument.

"But we overcame it: we moved to the suburbs, dad went to the academy and when I was 12 he got those self-same bastards on a charge of arson. They got put away for 20 years and he got a much needed raise. And as to the… other thing." Elisa rallied herself for the closing salvo. "And as for… well, I admit it, I've _thought _about someday having kids. But thinking about it is a long way from wanting it." She went for the grand slam "Besides, being a cop, especially one with connections to a source of civil panic, isn't the safest of jobs, and I wouldn't want to be the mother that has to leave my kid behind because those idiots…" she pointed down, beyond the trio and Angela, to the city below "decided to take out their paranoia on me."

Goliath mulled on these, found them satisfactory, but decided that something was still bugging him. "But the kiss… why?"

"Because my (extended) family expects as many new members as possible: every family does to some degree. The point is… how do I explain this… Hudson once told me that in the old clan there was a big obligation for all eligible females to breed (3). Well, with humans it's sort of the same. Every family wants more members, especially when they can be paraded around at reunions. And for that one moment… I didn't want to disappoint my parents, what with Derek not able to show himself aboveground and Beth not bothering." Elisa thought she explained that rather well.

"Am I a disappointment then?" asked Goliath, his extremely literary brain still matching each of her arguments to his, and finding them satisfactory.

"Only in the field of reunions and photo albums." Said Elisa. "To make a last point, it was… a battle. Between wanting to fulfill what my family likely wants and what _I _wanted. And what I want is to be with you." She finished, putting her last sentence in the utmost simplicity.

Goliath… pleased with this yet admittedly wanting to discuss this further, immediately thought of something to occupy her time. "Are you hungry, Elisa?" He asked tentatively.

"A little. I was going to get a burger or something before going home."

Goliath mentally earmarked this moment for posterity. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt this was somehow important. "Elisa. It is dangerous for you to be out tonight. There is food in the kitchen. I know that you still hold no love for Xanatos, but at least take time to eat, if only for the clans sake." And for _my _sake, thought Goliath.

Amazingly enough, Detective Maza allowed this. As they began going down the spiral staircase, a strange series of gastro-intestinal sounds came up from the expanse below, but Elisa decided that if a city truly had bowels, they had to have occasional movements.

Two very lethargic young warriors were producing these gastric phenomena in actuality. Brooklyn was in a very sorry state for such a normally capable warrior and second in command, and Lexington not much better. They had just carved the top third off of the Jell-O in the tub, and were going to regret it for nights to come if just by sheer force of memory.

"You shouldn't have eaten so much, you know. I _could_ have just put it in the freezer room." Said Broadway, looking slightly amazed at what he and Angela had just witnessed.

"Jell-O doesn't freeze well. It would have turned to gummy Popsicles." Groaned Brooklyn in a manner resembling knowledge, looking amazingly green for the brick-red colour of his hide, as he lay against the cornices.

"But you know, now that I think of it, it wasn't entirely a freezer. Parts of it were actually more like a fridge. How else were we able to make the stuff?" Asked Lexington, becoming temporarily coherent.

"Gee. Thanks for telling me." Replied Brooklyn sarcastically.

* * *

**Two hours after Sunrise, Oct. 28th, Eyrie Building**

Owen Burnett, now in his more usual attire of a three-piece suit, opened the door the office of David Xanatos. "The envoy from Eldemar Technologies has arrived, Mr. Xanatos."

"Excellent, Owen. I've just finished reassuring our oilmen in Russia that their jobs are secure. Send Mr. Olorin in." David Xanatos smoothed back his hair and adjusted his tie. This was a rough morning, if anything worse than yesterday. Since the beginning of the workday, he'd received ten voicemail messages from various religious crazies threatening the life of his family ('_I should tell Fox, it's been a while since she went commando on anything'_), another twenty condemning him to the fires of hell for harbouring 'demons', and four dozen various written diatribes, four with major grammar errors and one of those being written in crayon.

The envoy walked in as smoothly as… a very smooth thing, possibly rubber on polished marble. He was wearing a light grey suit jacket and slacks, and had a neatly trimmed white beard and hair. Now, to an astute omnipotent intelligence, this figure would be vaguely recognizable as the same being that took a certain deus-ex-machina as plunder in a subway tunnel. "How very nice to finally meet you, Mr. Xanatos. I assume you already know the basics of our offer?" said the man.

"Distribution rights, research exchange and what sounds to be a very substantial marketing strategy." Recited the Billionaire from tired memory, it being the kind of offer that any small to medium firm with good product would put forward.

"Correct, that and the favour I'm going to do for Goliath and his clan." This startled both CEO and Major-domo, who knew that very few groups new Goliaths name, and only one had even close to positive intentions for the clan.

"So…" said Xanatos, making a triangle of both thumbs and forefingers "I assume that this is what the Grandmaster meant by 'increased interest in the gargoyles' then?"

"No. Duval does not know that I am here. This is simply a favour for the clan." The envoy had made a similar sign with his hands. "A favour to insure that they appear much more sympathetic to those that would fear them." Putting his hands down, he reached into a pocket and took out an incredibly garish gold ring incrusted with all kinds of stones. "What if I told you that this little ring held enough reserve magic to turn Manhattan Island into a sea of small blackberry tarts?"

"Owen?" motioned Xanatos. The blonde, severe looking Major-domo walked toward the grey suited man, touched the ring with his left hand… and bounded back with an almost manic energy, his form seeming to waver as he tried to settle down.

"Owen?" Asked David, concerned at his assistants behaviour.

"I'm fine, Mr. Xanatos. It's just fortunate I never had an addiction problem in my youth." He said as he readjusted his suit. "The object does indeed posses a truly remarkable reservoir of magic, but it felt… _strange_, like the object had something approaching a personality. Did this ring have any strange former owners?" he asked Mr. Olorin.

"Just one… a very remarkable young woman. She was high of spirit and of modest but beautiful appearance. Quite a mage too by the sound of it." The envoy looked strangely at Owen, who interpreted it quite well.

"Ah… one of _those_. But I thought that objects like these were to be destroyed for the well being of the mortal world. How do you intend to use it?"

"Yes indeed? I doubt Goliath would be interested in magical jewellery after the Eye of Odin and Phoenix Gate affairs. Is this ring a gift?" Asked Xanatos most interestedly.

"No, but there _is_ a gift involved." The elderly looking man narrowed his eyes. "The higher ups may not approve of it, but I will give the gargoyles their best hope of survival in this new world."

"And what would that be?" Asked Xanatos, fingers meshed and leaning back in his chair.

"What all disaster survivors desperately want... their families back."

**Outside on the Parapets, 15 minutes later**

The envoy, correctly identified as Mithrandir, aka The White Rider, aka The Grey Pilgrim, and aka "Maiar voted most likely to lose at poker to his horse", stood on the ancient stones and held the strange object in his hand. It was presently in the shape of a small giraffe figurine cast in pewter with diamond eyes.

He raised it close to his mouth. "Alright, I don't like you and you likely have no choice in the matter, but if you do this, not only will you not be ground up for pixie dust, but I may have another job for you in the future. Just bring them back…" he thought for a minute. "And age them by one biological year, to keep everything in line."

He then released the thing, now a ball, into a contended bounce as it went from cornice to cornice, doing remarkable feats of rubble teleportation, cellular and genetic replication, memory retrieval and even some low level necromancy in each bounce. By the time it returned to his hand, roughly 150 more statues lined the battlements of Castle Wyvern.

"Good luck to you all. You'll need it."

* * *

Footnotes 

1. Not meaning extraterrestrial or of the gods or of the Fey, but simply from "somewhere else".

2. If that indeed counts.

3. Including those that dallied with another female.


	2. New arrivals

**Meet the Clan**

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own naught but a few characters, some events, and a layout design for Time magazine. The clan at large are educated guesses and genealogical extrapolations.

Summary: After 1002 years, Clan Wyvern is once again whole, but a comet (actually a very suspicious meteorite) bodes ill for our friends. A new power enters the fray, but on whose side: Jon Canmores… or his own?

* * *

Unidentified older male gargoyle: "Previously on _Gargoyles_"

/Voiceover/

Reawakening: 

Goliath: I _LIVED _FOR MY CLAN!

Demona: And they _died_ for _you_! Smashed to dust by the humans you trusted!

/image/

_Awakening:_

(Scenes of gargoyles roaring upon waking up and battling Vikings, fading to shots of rubble piles outlined by flame)

Goliath: _My… Angel of the Night… _(Shot of Goliath running his talons through a pile of rubble before pulling back to the roar and the classic ending shot)

* * *

**Sunset, Oct. 28th, Castle Wyvern**

"What do you mean _resurrected_?" Queried Detective Maza as she and Owen Burnett ascended a set of stairs on the southwest wall leading up to the battlements.

"I _mean_ that Mr. Olorin used some sort of magic jewellery to bring back Goliaths clan. If they indeed awake at all." Owens face furled in thought. "The very nature of the object worried me. Their keepers take the form of ridiculously beautiful young woman, drawn to either handsome, non-human males or high magical fields like leeches to a vein. That one of the Forbearers would dare to use such a thing must be a sign of, as the Chinese say, 'interesting times'." Well, either that or they'd finally lost their minds.

"Oh, don't be such a wet blanket Owen. Show the good detective to her chair if you wouldn't mind." Came the voice of David Xanatos from the battlements. Coming to the wide stone roof of the inner gatehouse, the pair found the Xanatos' lounging on deck chairs, outfitted in sweaters that were either Armani or very good examples from Abercrombie & Finch. Fox was holding Alex while David was holding what looked like a very expensive camera with a zoom lens. There was an extra chair besides. "Good evening Detective Maza. Would you have a seat?"

"Actually, I wouldn't. What're you doing with that camera anyway, Xanatos?" Maza wasn't in the mood for this, having just discovered that the number of gargoyles in New York would potentially multiply tenfold by sundown, promising to make her duties to both clan and precinct a lot more difficult.

"The look on Goliaths face when he receives what will arguably be the greatest shock of his life is a moment worth capturing for posterity. I intend on doing it personally. Speaking of that moment, Owen, what is the T minus currently at for sundown?" David asked his aide.

Exactly two minutes and… 30 seconds, Mr. Xanatos. Detective Maza, would you like to take your seat?" Burnett motioned to the empty chair.

"No thanks, I intend on being with Goliath when he wakes up." Stated Elisa before hurrying to the spiral stairs of the south tower. Noting the refusal, Owen sat down in the empty chair to keep track of the countdown.

Later… much later, Elisa Maza would recall that the as seconds ticked by and the sun slipped fraction by fraction below the horizon, it felt like an entire lifetime was being compressed into each tick of the clock. At last the sound of cracking stone filled the air as Goliath and his clan shed their stone skin for a new night. On this night, however, the noise was louder than it had been in… oh, about a thousand years.

Goliath stared in disbelief at what he saw below him. His brothers… sisters… elders… were _ALIVE_? A faint clicking caught his ear, and he looked down to see Xanatos reclining and waving at him as he held his camera. The trio and Hudson weren't doing much better, staring down in shock at people who were supposed to be tragic memories. Bronx, on the other hand, acclimated quickly enough to familiar scents and the company of other watchbeasts. He was barking excitedly and wagging his tail-stub wildly.

Drowsy gargoyles glided down from their perches, hoping to find something to eat among the castles summer larders, not yet realizing the slight problems that A) it wasn't summer anymore and B) that the particular corner of the inner wall that housed the larder had been turned into a decorative shrub display. A young, brass coloured male with black hair and batwings tried dunking his head into a rain barrel he _swore_ had been there the previous night and ended up falling flat on his face.

Another, one of the trio's rookery sisters, happened to look down into the courtyard from the battlements and noticed something. 'Strange… the refugees are gone… and what's all that grass doing there?' Something was wrong… the air was colder… and smellier than it should have been.

One male, a bald, short-beaked warrior looking about forty with dark blue skin and large ears, strode purposefully to the cornices. His present purpose was that it was his turn for hunting duty, and he'd had his eye on a herd of wild sheep for well on a week now. If the Vikings hadn't scared them off or eaten them, the clan and castle would be eating good until the fall came and the stags started acting stupid again. A red, beaked male from the generation before would be joining him so as to herd the sheep to blue, who would kill some. He prepared to dive, looked down as to calculate the updrafts… and nearly had a heart attack.

"BY THE DRAGON!!"

This was rather loud, so it attracted lots of attention, sending gargoyles to the area to see what the problem was.

And _what_ a problem it was.

Non-human faces starred in various stages of wonderment, horror and plain shock as they surveyed the city beneath them. The mob at the base of the building particularly drew their eyes, causing various remarks of "Vikings!" "Where did the hills get to?" and "Bugger, that's tall!"

More of the clan began filtering to the outer gatehouse, from frail elders to some especially curious hatchlings attracted by the noise. Goliath, Elisa in his arms, glided down to the gate, followed by Hudson, the trio and finally Angela, who was just beginning to understand that these gargoyles, by all the laws of nature and magic, should _not_ have been here.

Goliath landed, to be mobbed by gargoyles frantic to know what the hell had happened. Elisa managed to find the ground non-painfully amidst the confusion, scampering through the forest of arched feet back into the open air. Behind her landed the Trio and beside them landed Angela. Hudson grounded himself on the other side of the gathering.

It was a little while before anyone noticed the two new females.

"Goliath," asked his reddish-grey horned rookery brother, "who is the human?" His unique 'fan' wings flared in worry.

"Never mind her, who is _this_?" Proclaimed one of the trio's generation, a dashing grey charmer of a male with a turtle beak, backward sweeping brow spikes and shock of blonde hair, bowed low in front of Angela.

While taken aback by this pageantry, Katherine of Wyvern, cousin of Maol Chalvim, had raised Angela in the finest noble traditions of Scotland and Normandy. This meant that the shock quickly transformed into comprehension at what he meant. "Dear sir, I am indeed flattered, but I am already being courted, and he is most courteous."

"Oh, really." Replied the male, a hint of challenge in his voice. "Well, I'd like to meet this male, to indeed see if he is as worthy as you suggest." In his bravado, he didn't notice that Broadway had circled around behind him. Infact, when the rotund male tapped him oh the shoulder, he merely turned his head and brushed him away, though not before making some aspersion to his weight.

Brooklyn and Lexington had a good idea of what to do.

Broadway cleared his throat noisily. "The lady is speaking about _me_!" To his, the grey male nearly collapsed in laughter.

"Why, you…!" Broadway tried to lunge at him, but was caught artfully at the arms by his red and green rookery brothers.

As they were struggling, the fan-winged, horned male asked of his leader "What is going on, Goliath?"

As that was asked, Goliath saw Xanatos signalling to him from the other gate. "I think, my brothers, my sisters… that we should assemble in the Great Hall. This is a story that will take until sunrise to tell."

"And since when has the princess allowed us in her dining hall?" Queried a pale blue female possessing a head shield over her brown locks and spikes along her forearms.

"For longer than you think, dear sister." Sighed Goliath as he leapt from the parapet in 'flight'. Elisa was wise to hurry down to the hall in the commotion.

As gargoyles began following Goliath, Hudson looked up from where the lads were cooling down to where a few familiar faces were appearing. "Good tae see ye, ye auld rascals!" He called up to the new arrivals.

A red male with a long beak, white hair and a 2/2-wing configuration (2 wing talons and 2 wing struts) was gliding down to the gate, followed by a greenish grey web-winged male with a muzzle jaw, white hair and two brow horns being accompanied by a glider-winged, thin female of pale yellow, with dark brown hair turning grey and short, sideways pointing brow spikes. They landed before him, the red male going forward to clasp his friends forearms. "Good to see you too, brother." He momentarily glanced out over the city. "Especially seeing as how… Scotland is not how it used to be."

"Nae, this isn't Scotland, but we should get down to the hall so the tale can be told. Come, you lot!" He motioned toward the mated pair for them to follow, before he too took to the air from the parapets.

**Many Hours later, a few minutes before Sunrise**

Gargoyles filtered out of the Great hall, many still puzzled by the long story they had just been privy too. _Why_ were they living on the property of a man who had tried to kill their leader time and again? He may have _said_ that he had changed, but could they really believe it?

Then again, fighting the King of the Fae to a draw with someone _could_ change ones opinion of that person.

All the nights talk of metal gargoyles, flying gargoyle shaped armour, dead gargoyles brought back with metal parts… it was too much for some of the older clan members. The young, on the other hand, were full of excitement and questions as to the missing years of their lives. The news that the eggs were now only a decade of growth away from their first mating flights was strange enough, and the tales of mad Doctor Sevarius creating duplicates of the Manhattan six was a little hard to stomach.

Sadder and stranger still was the fall of Goliaths mate and former second-in-command. The one now known as Demona was obviously a danger to her and to others. And these Hunters… they knew that humans had never been especially courteous to them, but to take that suspicion and fear and to turn it into a congenital hate and madness was something they'd never come across.

Well… they had it now.

As the hatchlings were being led back to their protective corner of the wall, one of them looked up at the sky. "Hey, look, a comet!"

And indeed there was, a white-hot streak of fire streaming across the northern sky. Some of the elders began getting worried: in their time, a comet was considered a sure omen of bad things to come. Unfortunately, they could not long ponder at it, for only seconds after they spotted the object, the sun rose, claiming them in their rocky hibernation.

From the door of the Hall, David Xanatos and Owen Burnett watched the clan. "Owen, increase Castle Domestic Spending by 2500: we'll need a _lot_ more food." David noticed that Owen wasn't moving at all, and turned to see the disguised Fae starring at the 'Comet'. "Something wrong?"

"Let's just say, Mr. Xanatos, that I'm getting a good many 'vibes' from that object… and none of them are good at all."

* * *

**Meanwhile, Wood edge near Poughkeepsie, Hudson River Valley**

Ken Mulligan hadn't asked for this. His father-in-law had invited him up for a day or two of deer hunting and now, just as he was finishing up a pre-dawn scouting of an old cornfield, _it_ happened. Something roaring and blue had come smashing down through the tree branches, revealed to be a red-haired blue woman with wings, tail and all spiky bits when she landed. Suddenly, the sun came up and, much to his astonishment, she had, in some pain, changed into a human woman… who had a very dangerous look in her eye and was now demanding his muzzle-loading rifle and ammunition. He had no choice but to do it.

"For that, Human, I will let you live. Now run." And Ken did just that as Demona began climbing a large maple tree on the forest edge to ambush her pursuer.

Jon Canmore: formerly the idealistic younger Canmore sibling and now arguably as mad as a balloon and obsessed with revenge for something that he had actually done. He landed amongst the stalks, cutting off his jets as he began looking around. As he lowered his head-plate to increase visibility, little did he know that his prey was aiming a weapon at his exposed skull, her toes gripping the bark to keep her balance.

And then everything went strange.

A flash of light lit the sky, and something crashed into the edge of the field near the base of the tree that held Demona, the force of impact throwing her back into the woods. What resulted was a large crater with a large glowing object at the bottom. As Demona regained coherence and began retreating, Jon spotted her and prepared to follow.

_Leave her._

This voice was not exactly _heard_, but comprehended none the less. "Hello?" Called Jon "Is anybody there?"

_Over here, Human. In the crater._

Canmore, perplexed by the voice, ignited his jets and hovered over to the crater. At the bottom, the glowing object had cooled to be recognizable as an iron meteorite. "Hello?" He called again.

_Who are you?_

I am Jon Canmore, the Hunter, the last of my kind!" proclaimed Jon in a sudden bout of bravado, choosing to not count his siblings.

There was a pause. _Ah, a Hunter… just the being I need. Tell me, what do you hunt?_

"Not until you tell me where you are!" Called Jon, frustrated at this voice from nowhere.

_Very well._

The ball of iron began glowing hot again, as long streams of molten metal began extruding into a skeleton of sorts: arms, legs, ribs, hip and spine assembly and finally a plain sphere of a skull and mask of a face, bland save for a band of red incandescence across where a humans eye sockets would be. Although the figure was no more than six feet tall fully erect, something about it made it even more imposing than Canmores Exoframe enhanced height.

"You were a rock." Stated Jon, almost dumbly.

_No. I am the Morningstar. I am the greatest of any host. I am the mightiest this world has ever known. I am the one who comes in the light._

(Dramatic pause)

_I am Meklor._

"And will you help me, to destroy the monsters who crippled my brother and have plagued my family for nine centuries?" Jon was understandably excited, but for the second figure watching from the woods through a pair of binoculars, it was near terrifying, especially because this strange metal man… well, evil was the only term that really described the chill that went down his spine.

_With my assistance, Hunter, you will accomplish things that you've never even dreamt possible._

A strange, insane smile spread across Jon Canmores face as the iron man reflected on just how easy to seduce these bald monkeys were.


End file.
